Where to go on holiday in October: 20 top destinations

Autumn can be many things. It can be the dreamy scent of bonfire smoke on restorative air; pumpkins on porches; blazing leaves. Or, Down Under, it might be the abundance of spring – and a fine time to explore new Aussie cuisine. In much of Asia, rains and humidity are abating, so both riotous cities and off-grid escapes are at their best. And with the steamy, congested summer a distant memory, it’s the savvy traveller’s time for a classic California road trip, or an in-demand beach break. Here are our top 20 places to visit in October.

TuttiItalia is on holiday all month long in August. You might think that would make Rome relatively quiet, with every Roman gone to the beach, but it's not; it's unbearably busy and unbearably hot. July, too, is unbearably busy and hot; so is much of June. May and September used to be quieter, but lots of people realized that and now they are busy too. Winter can be a bit miserable, though Christmas is quite busy. So October, by default, becomes our month of choice to visit Rome, when it is less busy, still lovely and warm, and you can selfie at the Trevi Fountain in that magic late-summer sunlight without quite so many tourists ruining the view.

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Perfect autumn beach destination: Europe, a Mediterranean island, but so far south-east it has the climate of the Middle East. Ta-dah! Enter Cyprus. A rich history and eclectic culture, a blissful climate and fantastic beaches. Away from the dramatically beautiful coastline and the beachfront hotels (our tip for half-termers is the five-star child-friendly Almyra in Paphos) is the lesser-explored interior, the Troodos mountains - the Cotswolds of Cyprus - with their vineyards and hillside villages and friendly tavernas.

Even when it rains - and it does rain here, a lot - the Lake District must be one of the most wistfully beautiful places in the world. Never more (many would say) than in fiery autumn, when mist and woodsmoke mix in the morning and good days are pin-sharp, bright with red-gold trees and bracken covering the fells. If only someone could capture such beauty in words.

It’s not difficult to get excited about a place that holds an annual 10-day festival celebrating the world’s favourite sweet treat. Every year, Umbria’s capital in central Italy hosts cooking classes, exhibitions and (most importantly) tasters to celebrate the town’s most famous export – chocolate. It’s a diabetic’s purgatory, a sweet lover’s dream and a local staple. The Belgians have their pralines, Oaxaca has its drinking chocolate and the Swiss have Lindt – but Perugia is home to Baci. The word translates as ‘kisses’, and the story goes that a young chocolatier created a special sweet for her paramour, wrapped in a love letter and – naturally – sealed with a kiss. Today, Baci somewhat seductively resemble a nipple, and still come wrapped in romantic proverbs and poems. There’s more to tantalise than just the taste buds in Perugia, however; this is a town rich in history and art, perched on a hilltop that overflows with medieval aqueducts, curious cobbled staircases and views that appear out of nowhere.

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The more southerly of the small Greek Islands - the Dodecanese and the Cyclades - are still hot and sunny well into October - and there are some sensational beaches on which to enjoy it. Rhodes, with its lovely cobbled capital Lindos and parties in its ancient ruins. Tiny Kastellorizo is cool and arty. Milos, which has some of the best beaches in the Greek Islands. We love unspoilt Symi, Nisyros and Patmos; while Santorini and Mykonos are eternal big-hitters. Pick any one, they're all lovely. Or go island-hopping around them all.

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You can make a convincing case for Botswana as the world’s greatest safari destination. The government’s ‘low impact, high experience’ mandate makes for more intimate camps; Serengeti-like jeep scrums just aren’t a thing. Then there’s the Okavango Delta, an immaculate wetland wilderness teeming with life. (Conservation is so successful that South Africa relocates endangered rhino here.) Tourism tails off in October because of rising heat, but the flooded Okavango is water-cooled, while a lack of vegetation — munched over the dry winter — puts game-viewing at its peak. Prices drop towards the end of the month, and the new, solar-powered Qorokwe Camp by Wilderness Safaris, sitting on its own lagoon, is a slick pick.

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Beachy Eden ‘Cabo’ is all about switching off in style. This sun-drenched spot is always hot hot hot: where smart hotels like the One&Only have restaurants by elite chefs such as Jean-Georges Vongerichten and host birthday parties for starry guests including Jennifer Aniston. In winter, all and sundry come for the weather (it rains in summer). Praise be for October, then, when the mercury’s high but occupancy low. Los Cabos is actually two towns at the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula — Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo. The latter retains more traditional charm, and has the chicest hotels: mid-century fans will love Thompson’s The Cape.

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A hot destination right now, the winds of change are finally blowing through old Seville - and October is the best time to visit for fresher air, when the winding streets are a little less sultry but no less romantic. Culturally there's a lot happening, from pop-up galleries and cafés to a gastronomic revolution.

With the summer crowds gone, low rainfall and mellowing prices before the winter holidays, what better time to head for Hawaii? Big Island might have had an explosive year — Kilauea volcano’s eruption is still ongoing — but it’s business as usual in paradise; in fact, bookings are reported to be up from last year. Plus, there’s plenty more to see in the Hawaiian archipelago: Kauai for secret swimming holes and charming local bars; Oahu for top food and surf; and even Maui, with its ever-popular 30 miles of beach, has some hush-hush stuff up its sleeve – seek out the rural artists’ community at Makawao, or go on an agri-visit to Surfing Goat Dairy, a farm on the slopes of a volcanic crater.

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As above, except with less rain, and leafpeepers (for that is what they call them here) tend to drive to look at the Fall foliage rather than put on walking boots. Combine the fiery Vermont countryside with a Boston city break.

THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

Out of this world all year round - there is no other wildlife like this on earth. However for maximum nature shows, it's peak season for fish and birds from June til the end of October in the Galápagos Islands. It's also when there's least rain. Wait til October and most of the other tourists will have gone back to work; plus the sea should have warmed up a bit in case you were thinking of taking a dip (and you should) to get up close to the phenomenally varied marine life.

Yet to draw the trend-obsessed like Tokyo, or shoot to 'Gangnam Style' relevance like Seoul, the Taiwanese capital is a broadly undiscovered, just-as-thrilling blend of both. From Taoist temples to record-setting skyscrapers, flashy shopping malls to throbbing, neon-lit night markets, it’s a fascinating cultural smash: all cheap streetside beers and grilled cuttlefish on a stick one minute; a bonkers club with a waterfall on the dancefloor the next. There’s more bling at the W, where room categories have names like ‘Fabulous’ and ‘Extreme Wow’. Towards the end of October the rain stops, humidity dials down and skies clear, so you can take in the glitzy cityscape, best viewed from the 230ft Miramar Ferris Wheel, or the 89th floor of once-world's-tallest tower, Taipei 101.

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October is the beginning of dry season in Vietnam’s north and south, where monumental natural spectacles and buzzing city scenes both abound. Up top, hill station Sapa is the gateway to misty treks; the capital Hanoi is all chaos, condensed-milk coffees on low plastic stools and some of the best food you’ll ever taste. Down at the bottom, the Mekong Delta is a whole world bobbing on canals and streams; and Ho Chi Minh City is where the bohos go – don’t miss The Café Apartment, a nine-storey block stuffed with fairy-lit mini-boutiques and craft coffee stores. High season creeps up in November, so it’s also the last chance for lower rates.

Amanoi, Vietnam

Sydney and Melbourne — so yesterday. It’s Adelaide’s time to shine, and how. The wine-producing Adelaide Hills had long overshadowed South Australia’s coastal capital, but a vital new food scene is changing all that. See the nation’s best restaurant, Orana, cooking underused native ingredients to show-stopping effect and thank the Hills’ surrounding farms for fresh finds that Adelaide’s urban rivals can only covet. All that natural bounty is paired with October’s crisp air, as the beginnings of spring slough off winter’s edge.

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October is when Northern California finally gets its act together, dropping the fog and chilly winds that never fail to surprise under-dressed tourists, opting instead for more Cali-appropriate shimmering sunshine and bright, blue skies. It’s also the ideal time to make the road trip to one of the state’s best-kept secrets, Mendocino County: a thrilling coastal drive 160 miles north of San Francisco, with enough dramatic sea cliffs, lanky redwoods and crashing ocean to put Big Sur to shame. Mendocino town looks like a slice of New England picked up and dropped off on a California headland, and recalls its 1950s bohemian heyday with a surplus of art galleries and no chains. That hippie spirit also lives on in the Mendocino wine region, known for the country’s biggest haul of organic vines. It's now recouping the losses of last harvest’s wildfires, so a visit to this close-knit community is dollars well spent.

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Summer is when Dubai hibernates: as the desert city heats up to 40 degrees Celsius and beyond, even skyscrapers seem to perspire, the al-fresco fun packs up and everyone bolts for the AC-cooled inside. But in October Dubai springs to new life: beach clubs reopen, restaurant terraces are jammed and a dip in the Arabian Gulf no longer feels like swimming in a scorching-hot spring. Temperatures in the high 20s also make a desert excursion less like an episode of Bear Grylls’ Born Survivor. Enough of the world’s biggests and tallests? Poke into the boutiques, galleries and Foster + Partners-designed buildings of the freshly minted Dubai Design District.

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It's springtime in Mauritius in October; the weather is warming up after a long, warm winter. But it's not yet humid or rainy. Huge Indian Ocean-sized flowers are bursting in bloom and animal hoots and chattering come riffling out of the rainforest. If anyone offers you a trip to Mauritius at any other time of year, we urge you not to turn it down. But October is definitely a goodie.

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The remote Himalayan kingdom known for its ‘Gross National Happiness Index’, pristine peaks and precariously perched Tiger’s Nest Monastery, makes a point of exclusivity — foreign visitors face a hefty daily tariff for the privilege of stepping within its borders. The payoff, of course, is the rare purity of a nation largely untouched by the outside world. Given that much of Bhutan’s pleasures are found in hikes to sacred mountains and remote temples, the cool mountain air and clear skies of October make it a prime time to visit. This year also marks the debut of the Six Senses Bhutan — a series of five lodges spread across the country’s deep-green valleys and forests.

COMO Uma Paro, Bhutan

One of the most visitor-friendly countries of the Middle East, Jordan remains unseen by many. Yet there are quietly spectacular things to see here: ancient and awe-inspiring Petra, the Roman city of Jerash, the Dead Sea, the Red Sea, great desertscapes where you can stay overnight in a Bedouin camp. In October there are still bright sunny days that light the rock of Petra up rose-red; but it is cool enough to journey into the Valley of the Moon on camel or horseback by day, and warm enough to sleep out under the starry sky by night.

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Turkey's beautiful Aegean and Bosphorus coasts are still hot in October, the beaches uncluttered by holidaymakers. There's a distinctly Greek feel to these regions, and between the coves you'll find dreamy boutique hotels that are good value for money out of season, and unexpectedly boho fishing villages. Alaçati is one of our favourites; and picturesque Selimiye, an hour from Dalaman, tipped (by us) as the new Kalkan. Likewise Istanbul - too prickly, too hot in summer - is more pleasant to explore out of season.